CreepyPasta - Luigi's Burning Mansion
by WayWardWonderer
Summary: A darker yet fiery twist on the classic game Luigi's Mansion. My first Creepy Pasta. Enjoy...


While visiting my best friend at University of Michigan in 2008, I stopped in a used game store called "Get Your Game On". They had games, both video and board, of all types and generations. I browsed through the videogames for a while before stumbling across a used copy of 'Okami' for the PS2 and a used copy of 'Luigi's Mansion' for the GameCube. The game case for 'Okami' was pristine, while the game case for 'Luigi's Mansion' looked pretty beat up. The corners of the case were chipped and looked scorched, the protective plastic had been partially melted while the commercial title jacket beneath appeared to be burned and warped. It was the only copy in the store; it had the (charred) instruction manual inside and it was at a 'Fuck-Yeah!' price of $4.99 so I decided to take a chance and buy it anyway.

I brought both game cases to the counter and eyed the Pokémon cards in the glass display case while the cashier found the appropriate discs in storage. When he returned he showed me the disc for 'Okami' so I could see how it was still flawless before putting it in its case. When he showed me the disc for 'Luigi's Mansion' I could see that it too was flawless, except the title image was also damaged and scorched just like its case. He asked if I was sure I wanted to buy both games and proceeded to inform me that this copy of 'Luigi's Mansion' was donated to the store after it had been discovered in the ruins of a burned down apartment building. He said the fire was deemed arson but no one had been arrested, and even though no one had been killed in the blaze nobody had come forward to claim the found game as their own.

Of course I thought it was odd that a used game would ever come with such a tragic back story, but I wanted to play. I paid for my games, spent the weekend with my friend and returned home with my two latest additions to my gaming collection. I figured since 'Okami' was sure to be a longer game, (it is) I'd start with 'Luigi's Mansion'. Besides it seemed the more logical decision to check and see if the damaged game would even play at all before I got too excited.

I put the disc in the game console, powered it on and got psyched for some ghost busting action! The game spun to life, the atypical GameCube logo and Nintendo copyright label popped up on the screen and then finally the game's title appeared. But what looked 'off' was how simplistic the title appeared when in comparison to the title printed on the game case. Plain white text against a silent, plain black background. Boring... Or so I thought.

Once the option to select a file became available I saw that all three files already had data saved even though I had never played 'Luigi's Mansion' on my GameCube or the memory card before. Then again I bought my GameCube and memory card from another used game store a few months prior, so maybe it had data still saved from the previous owner. Odd right? But I just figured the pre-saved data was also a part of the game's design, decided that it was normal and shrugged it off. But what I couldn't ignore was the image of Luigi in the saved files. He was holding a white lily in his hands and he was looking down at the ground with his cap covering his eyes and face, as if he had been utterly defeated. I wanted to erase the files and begin anew but when I tried to do so the game informed me that there was no data to erase.

At this point I figured that I had been mistaken and that the file images were default and would change as I progressed through the story. I picked the first file and proceeded to play.

When the opening cutscene started it showed Luigi wandering through the woods, looking at his map, trying to find the mansion. But when he finally arrived at the mansion's property the building itself was nothing more than a solid black outline with red glowing windows. The front walk was lined with white lilies, the two torches at the front of the walk were glowing orange and the small shack acting as Professor E. Gadd's base (I read the synopsis in the manual because I have that kind of time) looked like it was decaying. The background ambience stopped playing creating eerie silence but as Luigi opened the mansion door the pained cry of Mario rang out loudly and the game momentarily froze. Now when I say Mario cried out loudly, I mean the speakers on my TV almost shorted out and I almost peed myself. In that order. (almost) When the game resumed I noticed that Luigi's eyes were not their normal blue color but were just two black dots, like his pupils were fully dialated. (mushrooms)

I continued playing. The interior of the mansion (the Foyer) was completely black. The only light came from the candles which were burning orange. All three doors in the Foyer were red and in the far left corner was a single Toad. The Toad appeared to either be sleeping or in a trance. Just like the save files on the option screen the Toad was looking down so I couldn't see his face. I tried to interact with him but all I got was a gray textbox with white font that stated "..." over and over again. Moving on I checked the three doors and two were unsurprisingly locked, however the large door at the top of the stairs was not. As soon as the door opened Mario's loud cry sounded again. And again, I almost peed myself. (almost) The interior of this room (the Parlor) was all black too. As I explored the darkness, poorly navigating around the darkened furniture, I pressed buttons thinking they would trigger something or at the very least break the monotony. I found when I pressed 'A' Luigi would call out Mario's name. His voice was shaky and loud, but as soon as he stopped speaking orange flames shot upward from the ground in the center of the room and a big red 'Boo' popped out from the fire and screamed at Luigi, causing him to freak out. As he fell onto his butt and proceeded to crawl away from the 'Boo' Professor E. Gadd appeared and stood between Luigi and the red 'Boo' with the Poltergust 3000 aimed, but he couldn't stop the 'Boo'. The screen faded to black and seemed to freeze again. This time I heard a 'Boo' cackle, followed by a strange giggle that I think came from Gadd, and again, Mario cry out. This time Mario's voice wasn't as loud and it had an echo to it.

The blackness of the room transitioned into a dark red and Luigi was sitting on the floor with a solid black Poltergust at his feet. Luigi's HP dropped from 100 to 75 points. Regaining control over Luigi I had him pick up the device which he put on his back, and I turned to exit the room. This time Luigi's eyes were pure white. No color at all. And unless you wish to continue sleeping without nightmares, don't imagine Luigi without eye color.

I returned to the Foyer of the mansion and there was a second Toad. This one was in the far right corner. He too was sleeping or in a trance, and the spots on both of their heads were a darker shade of red. Same textbox with "..." for this Toad too. I checked the other two doors again but they were still locked. I returned to the Parlor and explored. Along the walls were empty portrait frames, no images whatsoever on the white canvases. The furniture did not respond to Luigi's interactions. Occasionally a lightning bolt would light up the room and thunder would break the silence, but nothing seemed to be happening.

Seeing a door in the back of the Parlor I opened it up and walked inside the next room (the Anteroom). This new room was aglow with orange fire in the rear blocking the next door. Moving Luigi near the blaze caused the red 'Boo' to reappear in the flames. This time it cackled maniacally and disappeared into the burning floor. A vague gray outline of Gadd stood alone in the fire. I couldn't interact with him and I couldn't move forward so I went to leave through the door I had entered in. As Luigi passed through the door the same 'Gadd-giggle' sounded before yet another pained cry from Mario echoed in the mansion, it sounded softer and contained a longer echo at the end.

Back in the Parlor I saw that one of the once blank portrait canvases, one on the same wall as the door to the Anteroom, now had a solid black silhouette of Gadd. When Luigi tried to interact with it the familiar 'Gadd-giggle' filled the room and it freaked out Luigi, again. Luigi's HP dropped to 50 points. When he finally recovered from his scare his face was pale. I wanted to see if Gadd was still standing in the fire of the Anteroom so I backtracked into the fiery room. The flames were still glowing but Gadd was gone. Still unable to move forward I returned to the door and as Luigi passed through the flames in the background changed from orange to green.

Of course when the flames changed colors I assumed the next phase of the game had been initiated. However when I tried to open the door to go back into the Anteroom the door was now locked. And the portrait with Gadd now had two green glowing dots where his eyes should've been. At the risk of losing more HP I tried to interact with the Gadd portrait again but nothing happened. None of the other portraits had any images, they were still blank and there was still nothing to interact with in the Parlor.

I returned to the Foyer and saw at the bottom of the left staircase a third Toad. Like his two colleagues he was looking down at the floor, unmoving, saying only "..." when Luigi attempted to interact with him. The red dots on their mushroom caps were a darker shade of red and the candle flames transitioned from orange to green as Luigi walked. Using the Poltergust I tried to blow out (suck out ^.^) the fire but the candles remained lit. Since I could only access the Parlor I decided to check the room again but like the door to the Anteroom, the door to the Parlor was now locked as well. 'Boo' cackled and Mario cried out, his voice softer still with an even longer echo, as if he was further and further away.

The large door at the base of the staircase was still locked but the door at the top of the stairs and to the left was not. I walked in and found the hallway was also black with red doors. I checked the first door and it was (in an unsurprising cliché) locked. I tried the next door and discovered it was a trick. It smashed Luigi into the wall and behind the false door on the wall, in red, was a smeared handprint. Even though Luigi had been injured by the door-trap his HP remained at 50 points. I checked the next door and discovered it too was a trap. Behind this door was a red infinity symbol. Again, Luigi retained his 50 HP even after getting smashed against the wall.

Daring to check the final door I found it was a legit doorway that led into the Master Bedroom. It was also black and I could only see the outline of the furniture with the occasional lightning strike outside. The only thing that could be altered was the curtains over the windows. I pulled the curtain's opened and through the (broken) window I could see a fourth Toad on a balcony. Like the first three Toads, it was looking down and not moving. I left the room and upon Luigi setting foot in the hallway the 'Boo' cackle returned.

I checked the door across from the Master Bedroom but it was locked. The door to its right was also locked, so of course I returned to the Foyer since I had nowhere else to go. At the bottom of the right staircase was a fourth Toad. He matched his counterparts in both pose and (lack of) dialog. Their red spots were again a shade darker. As Luigi crossed the center of the room amongst the Toads, the 'Boo' cackled again. This time much louder than he had before. Green flames shot up from the floor surrounding the Toads and cutting off access to the staircases.

Luigi freaked out again, he scrambled around in a little circle after falling onto his butt while the Toads remained in their statuesque pose. After Luigi calmed down returned to his feet his HP fell from 50 to 25 points. He now had dark blue lines under his white eyes and he appeared a shade paler.

The only direction left to go was the large door beneath the stairs. I checked the door and it was now unlocked. Stepping into the red hallway marked with green burning torches, I saw another Toad. He was standing, posed like the other Toads at the junction where the hallway turned, he blocked Luigi's access to the rooms beyond. Moving to the left I discovered yet another Toad in the same pose standing in front of the door at the end, again Luigi's access had been blocked. I walked to the right checking doors as I progressed finding them either locked or booby-trapped. (^.^. 'booby' is a fun word) To my 'amazement' the door at the far right end of the hallway was not locked.

Proceeding through the door I walked down the dark red staircase and found ANOTHER Toad standing in their usual spooky pose. He was blocking access to the room at the bottom of the stairs.

The door across from the Toad was unlocked. I entered the room and found myself in the Cellar, a dark red colored Cellar. On the ceiling, in all four corners were four more Toads! They were still looking down (up?) at the floor (ceiling?), their faces obscured and the spots on their mushroom caps were such a dark shade of red it appeared almost black. There were piles of sand or dust on the floor preventing Luigi from passing. Using the Poltergust I vacuumed up the obstacles and found dark(er) red, smeared footprints leading to the door at the other side of the room.

Following the trail to the door I opened it up and stepped into the next hallway. It wasn't red, it was black. The flames from the torches outlining the walls were still green and marked the 'path' to follow. The red footprints disappeared down this same path, the pace of the steps increasing in distance like someone was running faster and faster.

Still checking the doors, all locked, I walked down the pathway. The large door at the end had some weird thorny vines covering it, as Luigi stopped in front of the door the vines glowed bright green and faded away. The door beneath the vines was unlocked.

The room beyond was the Secret Altar.

As Luigi walked into this room Mario cried out, his voice was all but a whisper and the following echo was now too faint to hear. (I assume) In the center of the room was the red 'Boo', along the walls of the room were other normal white 'Boos'. On the wall at the end of the room was a large portrait with Mario inside. Mario himself seemed to be in the same pose as the Toads; looking down and not moving, his cap obscured his face. The red 'Boo' was focusing its attention on Mario.

I backed away from the center of the room but as soon as Luigi was about to make contact with the door more green flames shot out of the ground and cut him off. The red 'Boo' noticed Luigi and cackled maniacally again. The other 'Boos' surrounding Luigi and 'wrangled' him toward the center of the room. The red 'Boo' hovered high above Luigi's head and a gray textbox with white colored font appeared: "At last you have arrived Luigi. Bear witness to your brothers demise."

At these words green fire burst forth from the frame on Mario's portrait prison. As the flames ebbed closer to Mario's face the color changed from green to black. Luigi freaked out as the fire engulfed Mario, Mario himself let out a single pitiful cry. The room turned black and all was silent. A dark red light filled the room revealing Luigi as its sole occupant. The 'Boos' were gone and the portrait containing Mario was nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor.

Luigi's HP was down from 25 to only 1 point. The controls didn't respond, Luigi wouldn't move. I habitually pressed 'A' and Luigi called out Mario's name in a sad confused tone. The 'Boo' cackle returned and the screen faded away into a cutscene.

It showed Luigi exiting the mansion slowly. His shoulders were slumped, his cap was lowered partially concealing his eyes. A bolt of lightning flash and revealed Luigi's sickly depressed face. His pallor was pale, his eyes white and dark blue lines beneath his eyes. In his hands he carried a single white lily.

The end credits rolled.

Once the title screen reloaded and the file select was available, the first file now had a red outline. The image of Luigi was still there, he was in mourning and would remain so for the entire game.

I turned off the game and when I opened the console to remove the game the disc felt unusually hot, like I had been playing for hours on end but it took less than one to 'complete' the story. After returning the disc to its case I set the game to the side for a while and started 'Okami'. When I finished playing for the day, I wanted to put 'Luigi's Mansion' with the rest of my GameCube games but now the game case felt hot too.

Being paranoid, which happens often in my world, I put the game on the concrete floor of the garage for the night. The next morning the case, the plastic and the commercial jacket looked like they had been exposed to extreme heat and had partially melted. The disc however, remained unscathed.


End file.
